Thu, 06/02/2014 - 10:18 | 
Claire
Maria Adeagbo
My name is Maria Adeagbo and I am a University of Exeter ‘Classics with Study Abroad’ Graduate, currently studying the GDL.
Taking place at the architecturally awe-inspiring Barclays Headquarters in London’s Canary Wharf, the equally enthralling content of the BLD Foundations’ Legal Launch Pad (LLP) Induction event managed to surpass its surroundings.
All 47 of the carefully selected participants were immediately put at ease by a warm welcome from Barclays’ Deputy Group General Counsel, Michael Shaw, who assured us that despite the enduring gender and ethnic imbalance in the legal profession, this generation is at an advantage in accessing the topmost careers because of being equipped with “soft skills” which have been incorporated into modern University programs more than ever before.
Among the most inspirational of the guest speakers was former BBC Journalist-turned-Human Rights Barrister, Hashi Mohamed who, against adversity, succeeded in securing 1 of the 3 pupillages out of 480 applicants at the prestigious, No5 Chambers. Aside from the general application preparation advice, Mr Mohamed stressed a piece of advice that is perhaps the most repeated but is just as frequently overlooked, “Look for what it is in your application that makes you stand out”.
If there was an award for the most memorable of the Legal Launch Pad programme alumni speeches, it may well have gone to former LLP participant and future Trainee Lawyer at Clifford Chance, Seun Onasanya, who stressed the importance of “putting yourself out of your comfort zone” and working hard in whatever opportunities you may be offered. In Mr Onasanya’s case, this meant undertaking a work placement in China where he became proficient in Mandarin and, he proceeded to explain the rationale behind this extraordinary venture by comically quipping, “Let’s face it, not many people there looked like me!”
The Commercial awareness session which involved working in small groups to draw answers from an analysis of the days’ Financial Times unwittingly allowed us to exercise one of the key skills looked for by most Law Firms, the ability to work as part of a team as well as understand what is meant by ‘commercial awareness’.
Whilst it would have been easy to get lost in the delightful deluge of inspirational, humorous and sometimes shocking life experiences of many of the speakers at the event, I was able to garner a common connection between all of them; I believe that this is that if you have the determination and the drive, you can succeed in any field and, if you have the tenacity, you can become an expert within it.
When attending the first day of my LLP programme-arranged Vacation Scheme this summer, I will keep in mind O’Melveny and Myers’ Managing Partner, Solomon Wifa’s closing words, “It’s like painting on a blank canvas. Find your ambition and discover what it is that you want from life, what it is that you dream of for yourself and, how you can achieve it. Then go from there…”
Maria
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